Legal Studies Graduate Now Graduating from MSU College of Law

Joe Viviano was the first person to graduate high school, let alone college. Now, after struggling his first semester at Ferris in the Legal Studies program, he is graduating at the top of his class from Michigan State College of Law.

Viviano earned his Associates degree in Legal Studies and his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in at Ferris State University. After wanting to take the next step by going to law school, he asked his professors and advisers for school recommendations. After talking with them and getting a hefty scholarship, he decided to attend Michigan State College of Law. But Viviano didn’t necessarily start off his college career on the right foot.

“My first semester at Ferris, I had a 2.5 GPA, and wasn’t doing very well,” he said. “The professors took the time to work and talk with me and get me on the right track. Now, I’m in the top of my class at MSU. I attribute a lot of that now to the prep that I got at Ferris. That to me was the most important part.”

Viviano said that a lot of the course work in the program is very similar to what you have to do in law school. Because of the similarities, you get accustomed to the kind of writing and basic research that you will have to do during your time at law school.

If you want to move on to law school after graduation, Viviano recommends you have a real desire to go and do well, because it costs a lot of money and isn’t something to be blown off.

“Don’t go to law school just because you think you’ll make a lot of money when you graduate, because a lot of my current classmates won’t be,” said Viviano.

He also stresses to really study for your LSAT exam, because that will determine scholarships and what law schools you get accepted to.

Overall, Viviano says that going to Ferris was a great experience and it really helped and prepared him. Graduating in a couple of weeks, he will have a position in the Trust and Estates practice group at Foster Swift Collins & Smith, one of Michigan’s largest law firms.

“I was someone from no college background and average grades, and now I’m graduating at the top of my class,” said Viviano. “I contribute a lot of the success I had in law school, and what I’ll have as an attorney to Ferris and the support I had.”